Studying the Integration of Adult-born Neurons

Neurogenesis occurs in adult mammalian brains in the sub-ventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricle and in the sub-granular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampal dentate gyrus throughout life. Previous reports have shown that adult hippocampal neurogenesis is associated with diverse brain disorders, including epilepsy, schizophrenia, depression and anxiety (1). Deciphering the process of normal and aberrant adult-born neuron integration may shed light on the etiology of these diseases and inform the development of new therapies. SGZ adult neurogenesis mirrors embryonic and post-natal neuronal development, including stages of fate specification, migration, synaptic integration, and maturation. However, full integration occurs over a prolonged, 6-week period. Initial synaptic input to adult-born SGZ dentate granule cells (DGCs) is GABAergic, followed by glutamatergic input at 14 days (2). The specific factors which regulate circuit formation of adult-born neurons in the dentate gyrus are currently unknown. Our laboratory uses a replication-deficient retroviral vector based on the Moloney murine leukemia virus to deliver fluorescent proteins and hypothesized regulatory genes to these proliferating cells. This viral technique provides high specificity and resolution for analysis of cell birth date, lineage, morphology, and synaptogenesis. A typical experiment often employs two or three viruses containing unique label, transgene, and promoter elements for single-cell analysis of a desired developmental process in vivo. The following protocol describes a method for analyzing functional newborn neuron integration using a single green (GFP) or red (dTomato) fluorescent protein retrovirus and patch-clamp electrophysiology.